Joel West, PhD

Joel West joined Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in 2011 as Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and retired in 2023. From 2019-2023, he was also director of the Master of Business and Science program. His areas of expertise include open innovation, coopetition in ecosystems and other value networks, and technology entrepreneurship. He was also active in KGI’s technology transfer efforts and launching KGI’s first online business degree.

An internationally known and NSF-funded researcher on innovation management, Dr. West has been invited to speak at industry and academic events on six continents. He is particularly known for his work on open innovation, which includes being co-editor of Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm (Oxford, 2006), New Frontiers in Open Innovation (Oxford, 2014) and The Oxford Handbook of Open Innovation (Oxford, 2023). His research on innovation and entrepreneurship has been cited more than 23,000 times.

He has a PhD in Management from the University of California, Irvine and an S.B. in Interdisciplinary Sciences (Meteorology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to becoming an academic, he had an extensive industry career as an engineer, manager, and entrepreneur in the software industry. He is co-founder of two high-tech startups, Palomar Software and Shield Pharma.

See complete list of publications

Krithika Randhawa, Joel West, Katrina Skellern and Emmanuel Josseran, “Evolving a Value Chain to an Open Innovation Ecosystem: Cognitive Engagement of Stakeholders in Customizing Medical Implants,” California Management Review 63, 2 (2021), 101-134. DOI: 10.1177/0008125620974435

Paul Olk and Joel West, “The Relationship of Industry Structure to Open Innovation: Cooperative Value Creation in Pharmaceutical Consortia,” R&D Management, 50, 1 (January 2020), 116-135. DOI: 10.1111/radm.12364

Krithika Randhawa, Ralf Wilden and Joel West, “Crowdsourcing without Profit: The Role of the Seeker in Open Social Innovation,” R&D Management, 49, 3 (June 2019), 298-317. DOI: 10.1111/radm.12357

Erik G. Hansen, Florian Lüdeke-Freund, Iris Xiaohong Quan, and Joel West, “Cross-National Complementarity of Technology Push, Demand Pull, and Manufacturing Push Policies: The Case of Photovoltaics,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 65, 4 (November 2018): 1-7. DOI: 10.1109/TEM.2018.2833878

Anne Greul, Joel West and Simon Bock, “Open at birth? Why new firms do (or don’t) use open innovation,” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12, 3 (September 2018): 392-420. DOI: 10.1002/sej.1282

Oliver Alexy, Joel West, Helge Klapper, and Markus Reitzig, “Surrendering Control to Gain Advantage: Reconciling Openness and the Resource-based View of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal, Special Issue on New Theory in Strategic Management, 39, 6 (June 2018): 1704-1727. DOI: 10.1002/smj.2706

Joel West and Jonathan Sims, “How Firms Leverage Crowds and Communities,” in Allan Afuah, Christopher Tucci, and Gianluigi Viscusi,  eds., Creating and Capturing Value through Crowdsourcing, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, pp. 58-96. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198816225.001.0001

Joel West, “Open Source Platforms Beyond Software: From ICT to Biotechnology,” in Jeffrey Furman, Annabelle Gawer, Brian S. Silverman, and Scott Stern, eds. Advances in Strategic Management 37, 2017, pp. 337-368. DOI: 10.1108/S0742-332220170000037011

Christopher L. Tucci, Henry Chesbrough, Frank Piller, and Joel West, “When do firms undertake open, collaborative activities?” Industrial & Corporate Change, 25, 2 (April 2016): 283-288. DOI: 10.1093/icc/dtw002

Joel West and George Kuk, “The complementarity of openness: How MakerBot leveraged Thingiverse in 3D printing,” Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 102 (Jan. 2016): 169-181. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2015.07.025

Marcus Perkmann and Joel West, “Open Science and Open Innovation: Sourcing Knowledge from Universities,” in Albert N. Link, Donald S. Siegel, and Mike Wright, eds., Chicago Handbook of University Technology Transfer and Academic Entrepreneurship, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015, pp. 41-74. 

Joel West and Marcel Bogers, “Leveraging External Sources of Innovation: A Review of Research on Open Innovation,” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31, 4 (July 2014): 814-831. DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12125

Joel West, Ammon Salter, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Henry Chesbrough, “Open innovation: The next decade,” Research Policy, 43, 5 (June 2014): 805-811. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2014.03.001

Joel West, “Too Little, Too Early: California’s Transient Advantage in the Photovoltaic Solar Industry,” Journal of Technology Transfer,39, 3 (June 2014): 487-501. DOI: 10.1007/s10961-012-9291-6

Joel West, “Open Innovation: Learning from Alliance Research,” in Refik Culpan, editor, Open Innovation Through Strategic Alliances,New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2014, pp. 1-16. 

Mary Walshok and Joel West, “Serendipity and Symbiosis: UCSD and the Local Wireless Industry,” in Martin Kenney and David Mowery, eds., Public Universities and Regional Growth: Insights from the University of California, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2014, pp. 127-152.

Henry Chesbrough, Wim Vanhaverbeke and Joel West, eds., New Frontiers in Open Innovation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Joel West and David Wood, “Evolving an Open Ecosystem: The Rise and Fall of the Symbian Platform,” in Ron Adner, Joanne Oxley and Brian Silverman, eds., Advances in Strategic Management, Volume 30, 2013, pp. 27-68.  DOI: 10.1108/S0742-3322(2013)0000030005.

Jennifer Kuan and Joel West, “Interfaces, Modularity and Ecosystem Emergence: How DARPA Modularized the Semiconductor Ecosystem,” Research Policy 52, 8 (2023): 104789. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2023.104789

Thierry Rayna and Joel West, “Where Digital Meets Physical Innovation: Reverse Salients and the Unrealized Dreams of 3D Printing,” Journal of Product Innovation Management 40, 4 (2023): 530-553. DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12681

Paul L. Drnevich and Joel West, “Performance Implications of Technological Uncertainty, Age, and Size for Small Businesses,” Journal of Small Business Management, 61, 4 (2023): 1806-1841. DOI:10.1080/00472778.2020.1867733

Paul Olk and Joel West, “Distributed Governance of a Complex Ecosystem: How R&D Consortia Orchestrate the Alzheimer’s Knowledge Ecosystem,”  California Management Review 65, 2 (2023), 93-128.DOI: 10.1177/00081256231165329

Krithika Randhawa, Joel West, Katrina Skellern and Emmanuel Josseran, “Evolving a Value Chain to an Open Innovation Ecosystem: Cognitive Engagement of Stakeholders in Customizing Medical Implants,” California Management Review 63, 2 (2021), 101-134. DOI: 10.1177/0008125620974435

Paul Olk and Joel West, “The Relationship of Industry Structure to Open Innovation: Cooperative Value Creation in Pharmaceutical Consortia,” R&D Management, 50, 1 (January 2020), 116-135. DOI: 10.1111/radm.12364

Krithika Randhawa, Ralf Wilden and Joel West, “Crowdsourcing without Profit: The Role of the Seeker in Open Social Innovation,” R&D Management, 49, 3 (June 2019), 298-317. DOI: 10.1111/radm.12357

Erik G. Hansen, Florian Lüdeke-Freund, Iris Xiaohong Quan, and Joel West, “Cross-National Complementarity of Technology Push, Demand Pull, and Manufacturing Push Policies: The Case of Photovoltaics,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 65, 4 (November 2018): 1-7. DOI: 10.1109/TEM.2018.2833878

Anne Greul, Joel West and Simon Bock, “Open at birth? Why new firms do (or don’t) use open innovation,” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12, 3 (September 2018): 392-420. DOI: 10.1002/sej.1282

Oliver Alexy, Joel West, Helge Klapper, and Markus Reitzig, “Surrendering Control to Gain Advantage: Reconciling Openness and the Resource-based View of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal, 39, 6 (June 2018): 1704-1727. DOI: 

Christopher L. Tucci, Henry Chesbrough, Frank Piller, and Joel West, “When do firms undertake open, collaborative activities?” Industrial & Corporate Change, 25, 2 (April 2016): 283-288. DOI: 10.1093/icc/dtw002

Joel West and George Kuk, “The complementarity of openness: How MakerBot leveraged Thingiverse in 3D printing,” Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 102 (Jan. 2016): 169-181. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2015.07.025

Joel West and Marcel Bogers, “Leveraging External Sources of Innovation: A Review of Research on Open Innovation,” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31, 4 (July 2014): 814-831. DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12125

Joel West, Ammon Salter, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Henry Chesbrough, “Open innovation: The next decade,” Research Policy, 43, 5 (June 2014): 805-811. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2014.03.001

Joel West, “Too Little, Too Early: California’s Transient Advantage in the Photovoltaic Solar Industry,” Journal of Technology Transfer, 39, 3 (June 2014): 487-501. DOI: 10.1007/s10961-012-9291-6